(I read this article at Pulpit Pimps, blogging home of Melvin Jones, and figured I had to share it with the peeps. Quickly, the Theology 101 series proper will begin next Tuesday, looking at the term “the Word of God”.)

For those of you who recognize this as a take off on a portrait of John Calvin – my apologies to you and to John Calvin. But it was necessary to illustrate and to introduce a very important point about the average Christian, or at least the average practitioner of Christianity.

I am an admitted fan of the Reformation. Many of the more…uh…Arminan readers rail against the Reformation, not understanding that the framework of orthodoxy they enjoy stems directly and solely from the Reformation. You believe in salvation by grace? Thank Luther and the rest of the Reformers. You believe there is no mediator between us and God except Jesus Christ? Thank a Reformer. You believe we are saved by faith alone? Thank people like Calvin, Owen, and a host of others. You don’t believe you can benefit from the excess grace earned by some silly saint who traveled from England to Jerusalem on his knees? Thank a Reformer.

Or perhaps you really like the fact that you are encouraged to pay attention to the Bible? Yep, it’s the result of efforts by the Reformers. It’s the results of men and women willing to put their lives on the line for the Bible and the doctrines of the Bible.

Were the Reformers perfect? Can they replace God? Certainly not. But God did use them to bring the truth of Gospel back to the European continent and beyond. If it were not for them, we would all be Catholic…or Buddhist…or Hindu…Well, you get the idea.

One of the activities the Reformers engaged in was the development of numerous confessions. Of course here, when I use the term “confession” I mean a formal profession of belief and acceptance of doctrines, as before being admitted to church membership, not admitting that I did something wrong.

While many confessions came out of the Reformation period, most were very similar. The Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, the Westminster Confession, the Augsburg Confession and others all attempted to codify Protestant belief, to sort of boil down into a few manageable words, the great doctrines of the Bible.

For instance, I can use a lot of words to talk about the doctrine of the Trinity. Or I can say:

In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.

With this, maybe you can understand why a lot of us see T. Dexter as a coward. Affirming the Trinity is not that hard. Fifty-five words and you have clearly and unambiguously aligned yourself with a Trinitarian viewpoint.

The Confessions give us a standard set of statements that clearly sum up what we believe. And they usually make heavy references to the Bible to support their content.

That is, unless you’re Cashflow Dollar. Then the confessions do something altogether different.

The Westminister’s confession about the Bible:

The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the word; and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed.

The Bible, the whole counsel of God provides us with the information we need to glorify God, to explain salvation to the unsaved and to worship God in truth. It is above supposed new revelations of the Spirit or the traditions of man. Notice that the confessions glorify God. They point to the need fallen man has for God and the responsibility man has toward God.

Now, let’s take a look at one of the confessions of Cashflow Dollar.

God has a specific plan for your life. Your pathway to the “good life” is included in that plan. Discover the keys to fulfilling God’s perfect will by studying His Word and giving voice to the Scriptures.

In the name of Jesus, I declare that my mind is renewed by God’s Word, and that I know His perfect will for my life. His purpose for me includes total life prosperity.
I allow the Holy Spirit to lead me to the good life. His expected end for me does not include evil; instead, it is filled with peace. I receive God’s anointing on my life and will not abuse it. I believe I receive the manifestation of my confessions right now!
In Jesus name, Amen.

Do you see any difference between these two? For starters, the second one is focused on the confessor, not on God. It’s all about God’s plan for me and what He is going to do for me. And of course part of what He is going to do, according to the confession, is work total life prosperity (whatever that is) into my life.

The average dumb Christian has no clue about Christianity once they get past Jesus died on the cross for my sins. When the right pimp comes along they are more than willing to say:

Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Now I can confess supernatural health and I know that in order to make God look good, I have to allow Him to bless me with not only supernatural health, but wealth and property too.

And while all of this is going on, as the Christian gets stupider and stupider, our children suffer the consequences. En masse, the generations following us (”us” being the Baby Boomers) miss the meat of the Gospel. They get conned by Copeland, Dollar, J. H. Bryant, and a host of others; men and women who wouldn’t know an orthodox thought if it jumped up and bit them on their collective posteriors.

I urge you (Reformed and Arminian alike) to take a look at the great confessions. Believe me, you won’t be following after John Calvin if you do. Instead, you will be seeing the structure that was built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

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